Tunnel vision: Israeli forces destroy Hamas’s vital underground infrastructure

The Israeli military said it has destroyed about 400 tunnel shafts that serve as entryways into Hamas’s significant underground infrastructure ahead of the temporary ceasefire.

Hamas has hundreds of miles of tunnels underneath densely populated areas of Gaza that Israeli officials refer to as a “metro,” and it uses these underground structures to smuggle weapons, evade Israeli forces, and attack Israeli forces through its guerrilla warfare tactics.

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“IDF forces continue fighting in the Gaza Strip. So far, the forces have uncovered and destroyed about 400 tunnel shafts. The fighters of the Yalam unit take a significant part in exposing the shafts and destroying them by various means,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Wednesday.

Victor R. Caivano/AP

Israeli forces, in the weeks since it began its ground invasion into Gaza, have sought to uncover and destroy the tunnels and any shafts that provide access to them. Israel claimed that Hamas was using Shifa Hospital as a command post, which would amount to a war crime, and it has since released footage of the hostages being whisked through the hospital and uncovered firearms and other military equipment, as well as one of the tunnel shafts that extends under the hospital.

The Israeli military published video last week of what it described as a tunnel shaft that runs 30 feet deep underneath the Shifa compound and extends for 180 feet until it found a blast door. On Tuesday, the military said it had breached a blast door found at the end of the tunnel.

“The terrorist organization Hamas makes use of civilian intermediaries and builds underground terrorist infrastructures in the heart of civilian neighborhoods, near residences, schools, hospitals, cemeteries and agricultural areas,” Hagari added.

In another instance, drone footage showed what appeared to be the IDF demolishing a Hamas tunnel network in the Beit Hanoun neighborhood, which was posted by the Kan public broadcaster. In the video, there is an initial blast followed by a series of synchronized explosions at different locations in a larger radius.

Hamas’s maze of tunnels underneath some of the most densely populated areas of Gaza allows it to move freely without fear of Israeli airstrikes and to hide its weapons caches. Its intent behind embedding itself within civilian communities is for Israel to cause civilian casualties in its pursuit of terrorists, which, as history has demonstrated, only inflames international concerns and outrage.

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The two sides agreed early Wednesday to a deal that includes a cessation of military operations for about four to five days, and during that time, about 50 of the roughly 240 hostages who are being held in Gaza will be released, while significant amounts of humanitarian will flow into the country. The temporary ceasefire is expected to commence on Thursday, though the deal could still fall through before it goes into effect.

It would be the first time Israel has stopped its military campaign since it began.